Fighting the Nightmares
by X-Raye
Summary: Jean is still having nightmares of the past and future, and it's up to Scott and Logan to help her through them before she becomes Phoenix. Or is it already too late? What should have happened in X3. JeanxScott fluff.
1. The First Nightmare

Feeling the bed tremble beneath him, Scott Summers wearily opened his eyes. Their deadly power was harmless when contained; shielded by the red quartz that he always kept over them, even to sleep. It would not be good if he accidentally punched a hole through the wall when he woke up, after all.

The bed shook again, and Scott sat up. He reached over, fumbling for the lamp. It clicked on, its warm glow illuminating the dark room. Rain lashed the windows, thunder cracking faintly in the distance. Scott froze, worry prickling in his veins.

Beside him lay Jean Grey. Her thick red hair was tousled, her skin pale and slick with sweat. Her forehead was crinkled in worry, a frown hardening her pretty face. She tossed and turned, the blankets twisted around her body, writhing in silent agony. Small, keening moans escaped her lips.

"Jean?" Scott said anxiously, putting a hand on her too-warm face. The bed trembled violently in time to her movement, the lamp bouncing on the stand, chest of drawers thumping up and down, and floor vibrating. The bed rose off the floor – "Jean!" Scott said more urgently.

I watched the two men as they sat there, looking at me. Didn't they understand who…or what I was? What I could do? Play with minds until they unraveled like balls of yarn…Didn't they realize they should stay away from me – like everybody else did? I scrutinized them with a level gaze. The bald one looked welcoming, like a grandpa, ready to help and take care of me. The other looked calculating, as if I was an old science experiment he wanted to look at. Neither made me feel comfortable. I concentrated, ready to probe into the older one's thoughts…Professor Xavier's…His words jolted my mind.

AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!! Couldn't-stop-it AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Operating table was cold and hard against my back. I wasn't conscious but I could AAAAAARGH! Make – it – stop!

Probe things stuck to my forehead, chest, couldn't move a muscle to rip them off but I could feel their chilling presence on my skin. Why had my parents let them take me away to this place? What were they doing to me?! Energy buzzing through – around – over my skull… mind ripping in half AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! Oh God! Can't – won't –

Walls sectioning off parts of my mind. Couldn't reach to the power that was bursting within my own brain, contained utterly. Blocked. Couldn't remember….how to use…functions slipping away, farther and farther from my mental grasp. AAAAAAAAAAAH!! I – I –

Scott. His warm hands on me, concerned and loving gaze. Scott firing at me, slamming me into a hard wall as I struggled to hold his deadly optic blasts. So hard. SCOTT! AAAAAAAAAAAH!

Logan. Glaring at me, his hands tightening around my throat as I choked. His long sharp claws buried in my own flesh. His eyes looking at me with a strange mix of sympathy and shock…as if he didn't know me. His lips briefly on mine – Wasn't – Didn't feel – Not right. Stop. I – I – LOGAN!!

Fire. Explosions. Death. Couldn't stop it. Uncontrollable. Trapped in my own mind, watching the destruction. Scott's look of stunned surprise. Logan's loving gaze before he – pain. Couldn't – Let me in! Too weak to stop – stop – Phoenix. Too – too – Oh God. Oh no. What – how – AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

"Jean!" Scott gasped. His hands moved frantically, one to smooth her tangled hair from her sweaty face, the other cupping her chin. "JEAN!"

Her eyes shot open as the bed hit the floor. "Scott!" she breathed. Her arms went around him instantly. He tightened his hold on her instinctively; almost fearful she would vanish from his arms, like a ghost.

Slowly, Jean loosened her grip and leaned back from him. Her eyes were wide with fear, tears beginning to spill down her face.

"Jean…what's wrong? That must've been one heckuva a nightmare," said Scott softly, his eyes watching her expression from behind red lenses. "The whole bedroom was shaking."

"I – I can't. I don't -" She gulped back tears. "I can't lose you."

His eyebrows went up. He hesitated for a moment, at a loss for words. "Oh God, Jean. You know I can't survive without you. But what -"

"I keep having these really confusing, terrible dreams. Things I don't understand. Bad things. Death…operations…something inside…and fire and you…dying…" Fresh tears dripped down her cheeks.

"Jean," Scott whispered. He brushed the tears off her face. "I will never let anything happen to you," he said firmly.

"I love you so much," Jean said, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"I love you."


	2. Mind Over Matter

"Jean."

"Mmm?"

"Are you going to get up?"

"Mmm," Jean groaned. She reached out instinctively for her pillow and buried her face in it.

Scott sighed. "I hate to do this…" He yanked the pillow out from under her head. "Our classes are starting in less than ten minutes. I don't know how a class is going to work without a teacher."

Before he could blink, the pillow had zoomed out of his hand and was back under Jean's head. "Jean…" Scott said in annoyance.

"Come here," Jean said drowsily.

Scott heaved a sigh but sat down on the bed next to her. "What?"

With her eyes still closed, Jean sat up and put her arms around his neck. Her mouth pressed lightly over his. After a moment, she leaned back, letting her eyes open slowly.

Scott smiled, slightly dazed at this sudden show of affection. "What was that for?"

Jean shrugged innocently. "That woke me up, right?"

Scott laughed. "I think I'm a little more awake too."

As Jean began to thumb through her closet for an outfit, he crossed his arms, looking out the window. He loved Jean more than anything, and they had always taken their relationship with slow, loving ease. He never wanted to pressure her, and protect her more than anything. Last night had been so strange.

Everyone had nightmares, Scott knew that for a fact, but it must have been horrific beyond measure for her telekinetic abilities to go out of control like that. He knew Jean almost as well as he did himself, and he knew that her abilities, controlling them, mastering them, using them, had always been difficult for her.

And of course, he could sense that she had much more power than she realized. But never before had she been so sure of herself, so confident in her abilities. Levitating small objects used to be a struggle for her…and now this. Something about it disturbed him, like all of it was pieces of a puzzle, but he didn't have enough parts to fit it all together, and make sense of all the connections.

He really hoped Jean wasn't listening to his thoughts at the moment. She never did that with anyone unless she had a good reason, but he and Jean had such a psychic connection, that they often had trouble keeping their thoughts from each other.

Besides, he could always feel her presence in his mind, sort of a gentle prickle in his head. If others could tell when Jean was in their heads, Scott had no idea.

"Stop brooding, Summers," said Jean with a laugh, abruptly jolting Scott out of his thoughts.

Scott turned. "I can't seem to help it these days," he said, his brow creasing.

"Let me see if I can fix that," Jean said with a wink, reaching up to ruffle his hair.

He kissed her. "Come on. We're going to be late."

Jean felt for the doorknob with her mind's grasp. The speed of her own will surprised her, the knob turning with a click, the door opening wide in less than a second.

Scott forced away the growing worry inside him and followed her down the hall. _Is it just me – or she is forcing herself to be cheerful? Why can't I stop being worried about her? _

Jean bit her lip as Scott's anxious thoughts ran through her mind. _Why can't I filter that out?_ – she thought with a sigh. _I hate listening in to other peoples' minds without permission. It feels so wrong. Especially Scott's. _

Scott froze in bewilderment for a moment as Jean's thoughts, almost an exact response to his, rang in his head, as clear as if she'd spoken.

Jean glanced at him. _Scott?_ – she thought vaguely. _Don't tell me this is happening again._

_How can I hear what you're thinking? Aren't you the telepath here?_ – thought Scott in reply.

_Well, I thought so. It's our little mind link, I guess. I can't turn this off and on. It just…happens._ – Jean responded.

_Don't get me wrong here, Red, but privacy is sort of nice once in a while…especially – _

_-in your head?_ Jean finished. _Trust me, I would know._ Without warning, her head throbbed, and the world was thrown upside down.

I watched Rogue smooth her white streak of hair back behind her ear, forcing a smile for Bobby but feeling uneasy. _Why does he have to pressure me like this? I don't want to hurt him. He doesn't realize what my powers could do to him-_

I watched Wolverine wander aimlessly outside. With a frown, he unsheathed his long adamantium claws. _Don't know why I put up with this dump sometimes. Sure be nice to get out once in a while-_

IwatchedStorm exhale slowly as she turned to face the class. _God, is Pyro trying to impress the girls again? All that showing off is going to get him in trouble one of these days. I could always call up some lightning to zap him- Nah. Wouldn't be a good example-_

I watched Professor Xavier frown as he sat at his desk. _Another lesson finished. I sense…what…Jean? What is she-_

I watched Kitty bound down the hall, leaping straight through the wall. _I did it, I finally did it, I told him and he-_

I watched Scott shake me, but the me that I was watching couldn't hear him._ I knew something was wrong, I knew it! JEAN!_

The lights flickered overhead and down the hall, and Scott stared at her in horror. Jean's face was utterly blank, her eyes wide and glassy with shock. "Jean! Jean! Look at me!" He pressed his fingers even harder into her shoulders, but she didn't flinch, didn't move, didn't blink.

All of a sudden, she snapped back to life, gasping.

"What happened?" said Scott sharply. "Jean. What happened?"

Jean looked at him hard, forcing her breathing to slow. "Nothing. Just a headache." She hated it, being forced to witness private moments, be in whomever person's head was closest, being pulled out of her body and thrown through more and more minds. It'd been happening more and more. And she hated it.

"Jean," Scott repeated. "It was more than a headache. You…you weren't even there! I mean, you were, but…" He stopped, his breathing as ragged as hers had once been. "Look. You can lie to the others if you want to, but you don't need to with me. I'm here for you."

Jean pressed her lips together into a tighter line. She shook her head mutely.

"Jean," Scott pleaded.

And something inside her snapped. She glared fiercely at him. "Nobody can help me. You think you can? Since when do you get slammed into peoples' heads on a daily basis, faster and faster and faster until you want to kill yourself just to make it all stop? How would you-" She stopped, horrified at how much she'd said.

Scott froze. He hadn't even begun to realize what she might be going through.

Jean's anger, meanwhile, had vanished, leaving her a hollow shell of sadness. _Why did you have to go and say all that?_ – she thought bitterly, looking away from his searching gaze. She didn't know exactly why, but although his eyes were always hidden behind those ruby lenses, she could always tell where they were.

"Jean," Scott said softly. "We'll figure this out, okay? I promise." He hugged her, and she hugged him back as tight as she could.


	3. The Next Mission

Jean braced herself, her hands squeezing the arms of the chair as hard as she could. Her eyes squeezed shut; she concentrated, struggling to make the crowd of voices in her head go away.

She clenched harder on the chair. The voices all babbled together, creating a painful cacophony of noise, getting louder and louder.

Jean gasped and pressed her palms against her head. She was sweaty and in pain and the roar of deafening thoughts made it feel like her brain cells were splitting in half.

"Get out," she hissed between gritted teeth. "Get out of my head. Get out! Get out!" She slid down off the chair into a sprawled heap on the floor. "GET OUT!"

"Jeannie?"

Instantly there was silence in her head. Jean opened her eyes slowly and glanced up.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Logan stood over her, a rare expression of concern on his face.

Jean glanced around, realizing for the first time she was on the floor and covered in sweat. "Um…"

"Here." He pulled her up, and they stood face to face.

"Uh…thanks," Jean muttered. She ran a hand over her tousled hair.

Logan's eyes were fixed attentively on her. "I'm no mind reader, but I can tell when something's wrong," he said gently.

"My telepathy's out of whack, that's all. Everybody's thoughts, all at once, in my head…" Jean explained.

"Are they all in there now?"

"No…they come and go."

"Sounds like hell," said Logan solemnly.

"It…it is."

His fingers brushed her arm. "Anything I can do?"

Jean vaguely noticed that the distance between them was rapidly decreasing. "Not really," she said. His breath was warm on her face. "Unless you know how to get rid of nightmares."

"You know I would do anything for you, Jean. Anything…" His hand moved to smooth her disheveled hair.

"I know," she breathed, leaning forward ever-so-slightly.

Their mouths were inches apart. It would be so easy, too easy, just to let it happen. She could see the eagerness in his eyes. She let her eyes close as his lips brushed over hers. And…she freed her mouth and pulled back.

"Logan, I…I can't…" She took a step away from him. "I'll probably just talk to the Professor. He's pretty experienced with telepathy."

"Yeah," he said slowly.

"I'll see you later," Jean mumbled.

"Jean." She turned. "What are your nightmares about?"

Jean frowned. "It all starts with…the Phoenix."

"And a group of giant robots, otherwise known as Sentinels, have begun attacking downtown…We can assume that their targets ARE of mutant-"

Professor Xavier clicked off the TV and swung to face the X-Men. "You can see the situation down there," he said firmly. "I need all of you to be suited up and in the X-Jet in the next ten minutes."

"'Scuse me, Professor, but we were just wonderin' if-" Rogue blurted as she hurried into the room with Kitty and Bobby behind her.

"Yes, Rogue, you three may come as well," replied the professor without missing a beat. "I'd say you're all experienced enough to be on the battlefield."

"Yes!" Kitty exclaimed.

"You can take uniforms from the cabinets down the hall…But keep in mind that this does _not _change the fact that you three are all still students, which means that you must follow _all_ orders from your superiors."

"Okay! Awesome! Come on guys!" Kitty spun, grabbing Rogue and Bobby, and pulling them through the wall behind them before they could blink.

"Hope no one minds having a few students on the mission," said the professor, glancing at the others. "But they really could use some hands-on experience."

Wolverine rolled his eyes. "Aw, c'mon, Chuck. I _love _kids."

"Just the thought of other mutants being murdered cold blood like that by those Sentinel things…It's sickening," Jean said as she pulled on her black leather X-suit.

Scott readjusted his visor. "I know, Jean. That's why we're here to stop them."

They made their way to the X-Jet. Storm and Wolverine were already inside, by the controls. Kitty, Bobby, and Rogue were buckling into seats near the back.

"Excellent," said the professor as Jean and Scott mounted the steps into the jet. "You're all here. I wish the best of luck to you, X-Men. I will be in telepathic touch with all of you if need be."

The flight of steps rose up into the jet and closed, and the familiar rumbling of the basketball court flipping over to become the exit for the jet was heard.

With a low whoosh, the X-Jet revved up and soared up into the skies. The basketball court slid back into position below it.

Jean sighed, settling back into her seat. She couldn't place it…but she felt…strange…uneasy. She shifted, trying for a more comfortable position, and closed her eyes. Three arguing teenage voices quickly jolted her from any rest she'd been trying to have.

"Bobby, what are you _talking_ about? My powers are so much cooler than yours," shrilled Kitty. "Can _you _do _this_?" She phased through her seatbelt and ran through the X-Jet, her powers letting her slip through every object in her way.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Show off."

"Hey, Kitty, heads up," yelled Bobby as he launched a huge chunk of ice at her.

"Like you can hit me," said Kitty with a smirk. The ice went straight through her body… and went straight for Wolverine. Without even turning his head, he lifted his fist. His three admantium claws shot out in a flash, slicing through the ice, and sending it into a million tiny pieces.

He twisted around in his seat, glaring at them all. "Hey _kids_. Settle down back there or I'm turning this jet _around_."

There was abrupt silence.


	4. Flight to Peril

"I thought you said you _liked_ kids, Logan," Storm whispered to him as quiet consumed the X-Jet.

"I do. When they're quiet," he said irritably.

After several minutes of silence, Logan noticed huge lead-grey clouds slowly moving in before the jet, blocking the way. "Hey, Ororo…mind clearing this…up…?" His words trailed off as he turned to look at her.

Storm's head rested on her hand, a dejected look on her face, all color drained from her eyes. Winds began to whip up, stirring the clouds into frenzied wisps of white.

He tried again. "Uh…Ororo…"

She jerked, as if woken from a deep sleep. "Oh…sorry." The skies began to lighten, clouds melting away like strands of cotton candy, as her eyes returned to normal. "I guess I'm just not…too sure about this."

"Don't worry 'Ro, we been up against these hunks of metal in the Danger Room too many times to…"

"This isn't a simulation. I…I just hope we're all ready for this." Her gaze flickered to the back of the X-Jet.

"We ARE," said Logan gently. "The professor wouldn't be letting those three go if he thought…if he thought anything would happen. Hell," he smirked, "you can't even kill me."

"We don't _all_ have healing factors and admantium skeletons," Ororo said lightly.

Logan twisted in his seat to glance behind him. Jean had her head on Scott's shoulder, her eyes closed, his arms wrapped around her. "Yeah…I…I know." He sighed, and silence filled the jet once more.

Jean let her head droop onto Scott's shoulder. "You want to take a field trip?"

"A…a what?" he murmured. "Jean, we're on a _jet_."

She laughed quietly. "I know, I know. More of the mental kind, I mean. I've been practicing. Just hold me tight. I can only do it with physical contact."

"Uh…okay," he muttered, entwining his arms around her. "This good?"

She closed her eyes. "Perfect."

As he blinked, he felt the red-tinted world around him, the back of the leathery seats, the giggles and whispers of the teenagers from behind them, the smooth glassy windows beside them, begin to swirl and shift.

He opened his eyes. They were standing in the shadows of a tree in a large field. A faded red-and-white-checkered blanket was spread on the grass with an old wicker basket atop it. A light summery breeze ruffled the leaves on the trees around them.

"Whoa! I don't believe this. This is where my parents took me and Alex for a picnic when we were little!" Scott spun to face Jean. "How did you _do_ this?"

Jean shrugged. "I must've pulled it from your head when I brought us here."

"Even the _food_ we ate is here." Scott popped open the picnic basket and grabbed a tuna fish sandwich and a container of potato salad. "Wait-" He paused and scanned the box. "Wouldn't this be expired? It was from such a long time ago…"

Jean shook her head. "This is your memory. Time doesn't move here. That food is as fresh as you remember it being." She plopped down onto the blanket.

Scott sat beside her. "It's nice to relax in my childhood memories right before going onto the battlefield," he said with a small laugh. "I…" he paused, more serious. "Do you think you're ready to fight the Sentinels? I mean, you must be pretty tense, what with the nightmares, and your telepathy going haywire, and your powers…growing. I wouldn't blame you if…"

"I'm fine, Scott. A little…stretched, right now. But I'll be…fine," Jean said softly, lying back on the blanket.

He shifted so that he was over her, his arms holding him up from above her shoulders. "I just…I worry about you. If anything ever happened, I-I mean…I want to help you, even though it's not my particular area of expertise. But I…I'm here. I think the professor would…"

Jean reached up a finger to his lips. "No more words, now, Summers. I'm a telepath, remember? I_ know_ you care about me. And I also know what you'd rather be doing right now."

Scott smiled and leaned down to kiss her.

"Hey Rogue." Kitty poked her. "_Rogue!_ You asleep?"

"Well,ah _was_," said Rogue irritably, stretching. She blushed and abruptly straightened as she noticed that, in her sleep, her head had been resting on Bobby's chest.

"Why are you guys so tired anyway? I'm psyched!" Kitty bounced in her seat. "Our first non-simulated battle! This going to be _so_ much more interesting than Professor X's boring lectures about ethics."

Bobby yawned. "Gee, thanks for waking me up, Kitty."

Kitty rolled her eyes. "You guys need to be awake anyway. We're almost…there…" Her words died in her throat as she glanced out the window. "Oh my _god_."

Bobby and Rogue pressed up to the window beside her, their eyes wide in shock.

The city was a world of chaos, hundreds of people running in different directions, cars in smoldering heaps, smashed-in windows and crumpled buildings, even the sky dark and threatening. In the middle of all the panic were the Sentinels, scanning the crowd for mutants in their cold and systematic way, nothing escaping their trail of destruction. Piles of ashes from vaporized bodies smoked from the ground. The X-Jet was unnoticed as it zoomed by, cloaked and therefore invisible to radar.

"I change my mind. I'd rather be getting a lecture from the professor than out here," Kitty squeaked, shrinking back from the window.

Rogue absentmindedly fingered the white streak in her hair. "'Least it's not Magneto."

"Yeah," said Bobby with a gulp. "I guess."

The jet settled to the ground several minutes later, and the X-Men piled out.

"So what do we _do_?" Kitty said nervously.

"Go find the Sentinels," said Scott smoothly.

"Keep them from killing any more innocent mutants, and eventually destroy them," Jean continued.

"Listen to our instructions while we're out there," said Storm sternly.

"And…don't get killed," said Wolverine shortly. "Now let's go."


	5. The Battle Begins

* Hey guys! -waves to all my loyal readers- God, it's been forever since I've updated, hasn't it? At least a year..maybe less...Anyway, real sorry about that, life kind of got in the way. Procrastination "I'll do it next week...next month...in a few months..." mixed with schoolwork (finals, yucky), mixed with a death in the family (my cousin died. :( ), but overall procrastination has led to this story kind of being dead...but it's back, up, and alive! Hope you enjoy and tell me what you think-trying my best to keep everything not OOC. * :)

AND NOW, OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION:

* * *

"Maybe they forgot about us," said Kitty hopefully as the X-Men began to carefully walk across the scarred battleground with no sight of any destructive mutant-hunting machines.

"I doubt that," said Storm. "You can never be too careful when Sentinels are involved..." A far away flash of Sentinel energy lit the sky, an ironic response to her words. Her eyes narrowed.

"Aw crap," groaned Wolverine, as his heel sank into something powdery and black. "I just stepped in carcass..."

"Heads up everyone," yelled Cyclops, "or that'll be us." With a roar and a whirring sound, a massive crowd of Sentinels hovered down around them, forming a dangerous circle around the X-Men. In the blink of an eye, Scott slammed his fist down on his visor, unleashing a wide arc of optic blast that ripped a Sentinel open, its circuitry-guts smoking.

"He makes it look so easy," Bobby groaned as he hurled daggers of ice at another machine. In response, two mirror-like shields emerged from the Sentinel's hands, and the deadly frozen weapons were immediately launched back at him. "Oh shi-" The blades froze inches from his face and dropped harmlessly to the ground.

He gulped. "Thanks, Jean."

The redhead nodded grimly. "Better be more careful, Bobby, or you'll be a pile of diced-up ice cubes in about 4.3 seconds."

* * *

On the other side of the circle, Wolverine had pulled out his claws and was ripping through the bottom of a Sentinel's arm, ruining its gauntlet.

"Logan, how's it going down there?" Storm called.

"Good enough," he growled as he sank his claws into the Sentinel once more. As the thing began to buzz and malfunction, he paused from the battle and glanced upward at her. Logan couldn't help but admire the graceful way her body navigated the air, riding the currents and waves of wind like a dolphin in water.

Ororo was twenty feet in the air and at direct level with a Sentinel, her thick white hair lashing to and fro in the wind she'd conjured, her cape billowing behind her, a true weather goddess if there ever was one.

If she hadn't been quite so busy keeping the Sentinel from frying her into a mutant crisp, she would've noticed Wolverine not-so-inconspicuously checking her out from below.

She threw out an arm and a bolt of jagged white-hot lightning shot out at her opponent. The Sentinel jerked and stumbled backwards, its inner workings shot. It landed with a loud thud, powering down for eternity.

As Ororo took a moment to eye her handiwork, another Sentinel moved in from behind her and slammed her to the ground. Her head throbbing, she struggled to get up as the machine walked closer to her, targeting on her prone body.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wolverine saw what was coming. "Aw damn, hang in there, 'Ro!" With one quick slice, he gutted his foe and threw himself in front of her. The Sentinel loomed over them both. "Get in the air. Now. I'll distract this punk." As he spoke, he began to slash at its powering-up gauntlet skin, under which was vulnerable veins of circuitry.

Ororo got woozily to her feet. It was a challenge just to keep her balance. Blood trickled down from her forehead, staining her face. She raised her arms, feeling the threads of wind at her command, eagerly pulling at her fingertips. Winds embraced her, wrapping coolly around her and slowly lifting her into the air.

The Sentinel raised its gun-hand at her. "Heads up, 'Ro!" Wolverine yelled, slashing wildly at the Sentinel. It turned its weapon on him, ready to eliminate the new target.

"Logan, watch out!" Storm screamed. The roar of the wind drowned out her voice, but Logan glimpsed the horrified expression on her face before the Sentinel's energy gun turned him into a pile of black dust.

* * *

Rogue and Kitty, unsure of how exactly to use their powers in this battle, had been standing uncertainly in the middle of the chaos, which was how Marie witnessed her mentor's death.

"Oh god, Logan!" Rogue cried, feeling tears in her eyes.

"What, what happened?" Kitty asked, whirling around and seeing nothing but a pile of charcoal-colored dust. "Holy crap, that Sentinel has one of those ray gun things from Star Trek." She pressed her hand over Rogue's gloved one, and they phased down into the ground before the weapon could inflict upon them the same fate as Wolverine's.

Meanwhile, Cyclops was being chased by a giant Sentinel. It lumbered after him, its enormous feet making huge dents in the ground, slowly gaining on him.

_Hey, need a hand? _Jean's voice rang through his head as he vaulted over shrapnel to outrun his pursuer.

_Anytime Red. Preferably now. _

Smiling, Jean pressed her fingertips to her temples and focused her thoughts.

Scott turned to see the colossal Sentinel grind to a halt in mid-jog, one leg still raised, a look of almost-confusion on its robot face as it began to rise off the ground.

"Nice work," he said, grinning at his girlfriend as she walked closer, her brow furrowed in concentration. Jean's powers never ceased to amaze him.

"Unh!" With a sudden strangled yell, she jerked like a marionette that'd lost its strings and fell forward into Scott's arms. The Sentinel, duplicating her actions from forty feet above, dropped like a stone, smashing into the ground directly where Kitty and Rogue were.

* * *

Before the machine could attempt to arise, Bobby formed a pathway of ice and slid down over to it. Thick icy mist jetted from his hands, crystallizing and encasing the Sentinel in frozen water.

"Um…did something just _fall_ on top of us?" Kitty said, making a face from underground. She raised the arm that Rogue wasn't gripping tightly, feeling her fingers phase up through the topsoil and into the ice-coated Sentinel skin directly above it. "Weird…it's cold…" She paused and glanced at her peer. "Are you okay? You're shaking…"

"Well, besides the fact that ah'm as claustrophobic as a parakeet in a fish bowl, ah just saw Logan get zapped into ashes by one of them Star Trek ray gun _things_."

Kitty's eyes widened in shock. "Mister Logan? He's, like, the best fighter on the team."

"Yeah, ah know," said Rogue bitterly, swallowing hard to rid the lump from her throat. "Look, it happened. Ah saw it with mah own two eyes. Ain't makin this up. Just get us back up there. Ah don't wanna die a coward."


End file.
